Boulder Badge check

You won't be able to enter the building at all unless you have defeated the first Gym Leader, Brock, and received the Boulder Badge.

Cascade Badge check

Just past the entrance, you'll be checked for the Cascade Badge, as proof you've defeated Misty.

Thunder Badge check

Next, you'll be checked for the Thunder Badge you received from Lt. Surge.

Rainbow Badge check

Just before a body of water, you'll be checked for the Rainbow Badge, which was awarded to you after taking down Erika. This body of water is where you'll be able to fish for Pokémon.

Soul Badge check

Someone swimming in the water will check that you have defeated Sabrina and received the Soul Badge. Just north of them is a small island, where you can pick up a hidden Max Ether.

Marsh Badge check

If you've won the Marsh Badge, you'll be able to get past the next person hanging out in the water. From here, you'll reach some land, where there are patches of tall grass with wild Pokémon you can battle and/or catch. When you get on land, you can also head east, where there are two bushes. Press A on the east bush to find an Ultra Ball.

Volcano Badge check

North of the patches of grass, you'll be checked for the Volcano Badge, received from besting Blaine on Cinnabar Island. There will be one final patch of grass to the north, as well as a cluster of rocks. Press A on the northeast rock to find a hidden Full Restore.

Earth Badge check

At last, you'll be checked for the final badge, the Earth Badge, won by defeating the mysterious Giovanni. If you're able to show the Earth Badge, you'll be granted access to Victory Road, a very challenging area that will truly test your abilities as a Trainer.

If you think you need some leveling before taking on Victory Road, the grass in this area isn't a bad place to train, though there isn't really anywhere to heal your Pokémon. Victory Road itself is a decent place as well (especially on later floors).

You have one final walkway leading to a gigantic door before taking on the Pokémon League Champion. Once you arrive there, you'll discover that the Pokémon League Champion is none other than Steven Stone himself!

Steven packs a full team of six Pokémon, and they don't share too many weaknesses. You'll need to adapt your lead Pokémon to match whatever he has out! Water-type moves are generally pretty affective against all of his Pokémon, though, which is great because half of his team is part Steel-type, meaning there are a lot of resistances you need to bust through.

He leads with his Skarmory, a Steel/Flying-type that has very high Defense. Physical attacks will leave you disappointed if you use them against Skarmory. It has Sturdy, so it will be able to survive at least one super strong move like Thunderbolt or Flamethrower that would take it out in a single hit. It's going to take at least two hits no matter what; since Steven can use up to three Full Restores in the battle, you might be better using a weaker move on Skarmory first. As far as what Skarmory can do, it likes to set up by using Spikes up to three times, with each layer of Spikes dealing damage to any of your grounded Pokémon whenever they switch in. If it pulls off Spikes three times, your Pokémon take 25% of their max HP in damage when they switch in, unless you have Rapid Spin or Defog to clear the Spikes away. Toxic can be very disruptive as well, badly poisoning your Pokémon. For attacking moves, it only has Aerial Ace and Steel Wing, and even though these moves get a boost from the Same Type Attack Bonus, they should be relatively manageable. Try to take Skarmory out as quickly as possible with Special-based moves; Electric- and Fire-type moves are best, but Water-, Ice-, Dark-, or Ghost-type moves also work pretty well against it so long as they are Special-based.

Depending on when he sends out his Claydol, you could be in for some trouble. If he sends it out earlier on, it's probably for the best, because this thing is very defensive and is capable of setting up both Light Screen and Reflect to raise the defensiveness of Steven's entire team for the next five turns. Using Taunt will shut it down right away, but otherwise you're going to want to give this Ground/Psychic-type everything you have to take it out before it can set up those moves, otherwise it's going to be a lot harder to take down Steven's remaining Pokémon. It has a lot of weaknesses, though, but its defensive stats make it tough to take down in one hit. In addition to Light Screen and Reflect, it also has Extrasensory and Earth Power, two strong Special-based moves for each of its types.

Aggron has a mountain of Defense and is a very sturdy Steel/Rock-type. It's literally sturdy, too, with its Sturdy ability, preventing it from being knocked out in a single hit so long as its HP is full. That's a problem, too, because even though it has a double weakness to both Fighting- and Ground-type moves, Sturdy will keep it around long enough to use a move afterwards. On top of that, Steven is likely to use a Full Restore afterwards. Aggron's Attack is also very high, and with powerful moves like Stone Edge, Iron Tail, and Earthquake at its disposal, you'll really feel the burn. It also packs Dragon Claw.

Cradily is a very defensive Pokémon, with a strange Rock/Grass-typing, in addition to good Defense and Special Defense. It doesn't focus on doing too much damage, but it will whittle away your HP and stick around to keep annoying you. It is weak to Ice-, Fighting-, Bug- and Steel-type moves, though it should be able to endure all but the strongest super effective ones. It has Confuse Ray to confuse your Pokémon, then it follows up with Giga Drain to do some solid damage and also heal itself by half of the damage it inflicted. Ancient Power can potentially raise all of its stats while doing some moderate Rock-type damage, but it's only a 10% chance of that happening, so most of the time it's not too bad. Lastly, it packs Sludge Bomb to do some decent Poison-type damage and possibly poison you.

His Armaldo has an unusual Rock/Bug-type, giving it just three weaknesses: Water, Rock, and Steel. It has X-Scissor and Rock Blast to worry about the most, both of which capable of doing strong damage, while it also packs both Metal Claw and even Crush Claw. The latter two are less of a problem, but Metal Claw could potentially raise its Attack while Crush Claw is likely to lower your own Defense after it hits.

Last up is his Metagross, which he will Mega Evolve into Mega Metagross on the first turn that it's in battle. Mega Metagross is an extremely strong Steel/Psychic-type threat with huge amounts of Attack and Defense, plus its Tough Claws ability raises the power of some of its moves even further. It packs Bullet Punch, which will strike first and strike hard thanks to Tough Claws, although if it doesn't opt for speed, it may opt for Meteor Mash, which hits even harder and has a chance of raising its Attack stat by one stage. Not good! Zen Headbutt gives it solid Psychic-type coverage while Giga Impact will do heavy damage, but cause it to recharge for a turn after it's used — a great chance to allow you to heal. If you can manage to burn it with Will-O-Wisp or Scald, you'll enjoy the reduced damage its attacks do. Otherwise, use your strongest Fire-, Ground-, Ghost-, or Dark-type moves, preferably Special-based moves, since its Defense is much higher.

After you've defeated Steven, you'll be crowned the new Pokémon League Champion. Hurray! However, just before you're officially crowned, either Brendan or May will show up with some "pro strats" on how to take down the Champion, only to find out that you've already done so. Professor Birch will show up for some reason, congratulating you on your victory.

Steven will then lead you into the Hall of Fame, where you'll register your team of Pokémon as champions.

The final member of the Elite Four focuses on Dragon-type Pokémon, which have relatively few weaknesses and generally have strong moves to go with them. If you have a Fairy-type Pokémon, you'll be in excellent shape, as none of Drake's Pokémon have any moves that are super effective against Fairy-types (though Fairy-types like Azumarill or Mawile may have to worry about their secondary type getting in the way; Gardevoir doesn't have that problem).

Ice-type Pokémon and moves are also really good against Drake. Dragon-type moves are effective against Drake's dragons as well, but keep in mind that Dragon is weak to Dragon, so if you plan on using Dragon-type Pokémon to execute those Dragon-type moves, you'll be vulnerable as well.

Whenever you're ready, talk to the shirtless sea captain to begin the battle against the final Elite Four member!

Drake leads with his Altaria, a more defensive Dragon-type that you've already fought once before when taking on Winona, though this one isn't packing Earthquake. It still packs Cotton Guard, though, which raises its Defense stat by a staggering three stages! Using Special-based moves is the way to go against Altaria. It has Dragon Pulse to hit for strong Dragon-type damage, Aerial Ace to hit for some Flying-type damage, and then, surprisingly, it has the powerful Fairy-type move Moonblast. An Ice-type move like Ice Beam or Blizzard will take it down without much worry, though, although if it can pull off Cotton Guard, moves like Ice Fang may fail to knock it out.

His Kingdra has an interesting Water/Dragon-typing, meaning it isn't weak to Ice like most Dragon-types are. You'll have to depend on exploiting its Dragon- or Fairy-type weakness. It has Dragon Pulse to hit for heavy Dragon-type damage, Surf to hit for heavy Water-type damage, Ice Beam to strike for strong Ice-type damage, and then Yawn, which will cause the target Pokémon to fall asleep at the end of the next turn. If you get hit with Yawn, you'll want to either switch out to prevent falling asleep or prepare to use a Full Restore to wake up.

He has two Flygon on his team, though thankfully they can be distinguished from each other, as one Flygon is male and the other is female. Flygon is a Dragon/Ground-type, so Ice-type moves are especially strong against it, in addition to Dragon- and Fairy-type moves, but keep in mind that it has Levitate and is immune to Ground — just in case it wasn't obvious.

The male Flygon focuses on strong Physical-based moves to do heavy damage. Earthquake will do the most damage of any of its moves, thanks to it being part Ground-type. Dragon Claw is also strong and very few things resist it. Other than that, it also has Rock Slide, a solid Rock-type move that may also cause you to flinch. Finally, it has Supersonic, and while it's inaccurate, if it hits, it'll confuse you, which could cause some problems.

The female Flygon is a Special-based Flygon, employing strong Special-based moves to take you down. Dragon Pulse is potentially its greatest threat, but it also has the incredibly strong 140 power Boomburst move, which it can use to get around pesky Fairy-type Pokémon and hit them for heavy Normal-type damage. Flamethrower is also a potent threat and can melt Ice-type Pokémon's hopes of taking it down. Lastly, it has Screech to lower your Defense by two stages, which isn't directly a problem since this Flygon has no Physical-based moves — if you get hit by Screech, it's a good thing, so long as you remember to switch out afterwards.

Finally, he has his main Pokémon, his Salamence. This fierce pseudo-legendary Pokémon has incredible stats in addition to Intimidate to lower your Attack when it arrives in the battle. Its Attack is insane while its Speed stat is also very high, but even its defensive stats are respectable. Ice-type moves are definitely its achilles heel, but it may surprise you and survive one, especially if it's Physical-based. As for attacking moves, all of its moves are Physical-based. Dragon Rush is its biggest threat, hitting for heavy Dragon-type damage, though it only has 75% accuracy. Zen Headbutt hits for Psychic-type damage, Crunch for Dark-type damage, and Thunder Fang cleaning things up for Electric. That gives Salamence a lot of coverage, but thankfully nothing should pose a threat to any Fairy-type Pokémon, other than Azumarill (excluding Mega Altaria), who may have to worry about Thunder Fang.

Now that you've defeated the Elite Four, the only person standing in your way before becoming the Hoenn Pokémon League Champion is the Pokémon League Champion himself! Heal up your Pokémon, make sure they're all in good condition, and then head into the next room. Keep in mind that you won't have a chance to go into the menu to heal or save once you're in the final room, unlike how it was for the Elite Four, so don't wait until then to heal up.

The next member of the Elite Four, Phoebe, is the master of Ghost-type Pokémon. In fact, all of her Pokémon — except for one, Sableye — are pure-Ghost-type, so only Ghost- and Dark-type moves will be super effective against them.

She begins the fight with her Dusclops, a very defensive Ghost-type that will try to afflict you with some nasty ailments. Confuse Ray confuses you, which poses a definite problem, as it can be tough to take it down easily and the confusion will make it all the more difficult. Curse is potentially a bigger threat, but it's a double-edged sword, as when Dusclops uses Curse, because it's a Ghost-type, it will take away half of its maximum HP and then lay a curse on your Pokémon, which will damage your Pokémon for 1/4 of that Pokémon's maximum HP each turn. Switching out will remove that effect, so you should do that, though if given the chance, try to knock it out before switching out to prevent it from affecting any of your other Pokémon with Confuse Ray. Other than that, all it has is Shadow Punch and Future Sight, the latter of which takes a few turns before it will hit and won't even do all that much damage.

Her Sableye has just one weakness: Fairy. If you have a Fairy-type Pokémon or even a Fairy-type move, great, use it, otherwise you're going to have to do something other than depend on type advantages. Sableye are typically known for employing a lot of tricks in their moves, but Phoebe's is rather straight forward, often leading with Fake Out to do a little bit of damage and cause you to flinch, then using Shadow Claw or the Rock-type Power Gem to continue that damage. Its Foul Play move can be dangerous, though, as it's a strong Dark-type move, but it uses the target's Attack stat to calculate damage rather than Sableye's, so avoid using Pokémon with a high Attack stat against it, otherwise you could wind up hurting.

She has two Banette on her team, each with a different set of moves. There's one way to tell them apart: their gender. She has both a male and a female Banette on her team. They both have Shadow Ball, which should do fair Special-based Ghost-type damage (though Banette's Special Attack is thankfully much lower than its Attack).

Her male Banette has Toxic to poison your Pokémon, Psychic to hit for some Psychic-type damage, and then Grudge, a potentially debilitating move that will remove all PP from the move that knocks it out if it is knocked out on the following turn.

Her female Banette packs Will-O-Wisp to burn your Pokémon, causing some damage between turns and lowering their Attack stat by half. It also has Spite to gradually whittle away at your moves PP, whether you knock it out or not, and then carries Feint Attack to hit for some relatively minor Dark-type damage.

Last up is her Dusknoir, which, like Sidney, she may send out at any point, but it is without a doubt her strongest Pokémon. Dusknoir has respectable Attack and even decent defensive stats to boot, but it is very slow, so slow that you're almost guaranteed to strike before it. Its moves are very diverse, though; not only does it have Hex, a Special-based Ghost-type move that does double damage to a Pokémon affected by a status condition, but it also packs the trio of Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch, allowing it to hit for super effective damage against a huge assortment of Pokémon. If you're using Blaziken or Swampert, they're not hit for super effective damage by any of Dusknoir's moves, so Mega Evolving them is a good way to secure victory. Take Dusknoir down with strong Dark- or Ghost-type moves, or, if those aren't available to you, just use your strongest moves that aren't Normal-, Fighting-, Bug- or Poison-type.

After you've defeated Phoebe, heal up your Pokémon and then proceed onward to the next room, where you'll face the third member of the Elite Four.

Unlike some of the more recent Pokémon games, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire revert to the original way of challenging Elite Four — fighting all four of them in a predetermined order, with each of the Elite Four getting progressively stronger. You don't get to choose the order you fight them.

The first of the Elite Four is Sidney, the master of Dark-type Pokémon. Using Bug-type Pokémon is a great idea to handle most of his Pokémon, since two are incredibly weak to Bug. Fighting- and Fairy-type moves are also a solid bet.

He leads with his Mightyena, which has Intimidate and will lower your lead Pokémon's Attack by one stage. Using a Special-based attacker is a decent way to get around that, otherwise you'll just have to deal with the weakened Attack. It isn't terribly strong, but it may try to pull off Swagger to confuse you and also raise your Attack by two stages, which means you will hit yourself harder if you hit yourself in confusion. It's a risky play. Sucker Punch will strike first, but only if you're using a damaging move, meaning setting up or switching out isn't a terrible idea (other than Swagger). For attacking, it only has Crunch and the much weaker Take Down.

Shiftry is a powerful Grass/Dark-type, but its typing also gives it a heavy weakness to Bug-type moves, in addition to a whole bunch of other types. It loves to open the battle with Fake Out to do a little damage and cause you to flinch, but it can only pull it off on the first turn it's sent into battle. Leaf Blade is its main threat, which is a powerful Grass-type move, but it also has the Psychic-type Extrasensory as well as the Dark-type Feint Attack. Take it out by exploiting one of its many weaknesses and try to avoid letting it do too much damage to you.

Sharpedo has the potential to be dangerous, because it has very high Attack and also high Speed. Its defensive stats are pitiful, though, so if you can survive one of its hits or can strike before it uses a move, you will make quick work of it, especially if you hit it with one of its weaknesses. Crunch is what will do the most damage, but it also has Aqua Jet — the Water-type version of Quick Attack — to hit before you have a chance to, regardless of Speed. Poison Fang can punish Fairy- or Grass-types looking to exploit its weakness while Slash hits anything else for Normal-type damage.

Cacturne has the same typing as Sidney's Shiftry: Grass/Dark. That means it also has a ton of weaknesses, but the worst of its weaknesses is Bug, so if you could utilize a Bug-type move against Shiftry, the same will work excellently against Cacturne. Cacturne may be a bit more shifty than Shiftry, though, and will use Leech Seed to attempt to drain your health each turn and restore its own HP, while hiding behind Spiky Shield, a move similar to Protect that damages the attacker if it uses it on that turn. Payback can hit for a lot of damage, because Cacturne isn't overly fast, while Needle Arm is a solid Grass-type move. Using moves that take two turns like Fly isn't recommended because of Spiky Shield, although Cacturne often has the brains of a scarecrow and won't use Spiky Shield when it would be incredibly smart to do so. Your mileage may vary, though.

Absol is his strongest Pokémon, and while he may save best for last, he may also send it out whenever he feels like it. It's not overly quick, but packs a mean punch Attack-wise, so watch out! Its Super Luck ability raises its chance of a critical hit, and it packs Night Slash, a strong Dark-type move with a higher chance of a critical hit to begin with. It also has Psycho Cut and Slash, both of which are similar to Night Slash, except are Psychic- and Normal-type respectively. Lastly, it has Aerial Ace, which has perfect accuracy and will get around any evasion modifiers in place. It doesn't have a lot of defense, though, so apply as much pressure to it as possible by using your strongest moves and don't spend too much time setting up. Remember that critical hits get around any positive stat modifiers you've set up for yourself, or any negative stat modifiers affecting the user, so if you've been raising your Defense with moves like Iron Defense, Cotton Guard, or Reflect, or lowering Absol's stats with Charm, critical hits will get around that.

After the battle, heal up your Pokémon and then proceed to the next room.

You're nearly there! Now that Victory Road is out of the way, only a long walkway separates you from the Pokémon League — your final destination before facing the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion. Follow the path until you see a large building: the Pokémon League.

Before entering the building, make sure you pick up the Mewtwonite Y to the left of the entrance. It can Mega Evolve Mewtwo into Mega Mewtwo Y, though you'll need to trade it over from Pokémon X or Y, or transfer it using Poké Transporter and Pokémon Bank, as Mewtwo itself is not available in Pokémon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.

You won't find much inside of the building. There's a Pokémon Center complete with a PC, plus there's also a Poké Mart that sells all sorts of items. Stocking up on Hyper Potions (Max Potions are a waste, as you're unlikely to need to heal more than 200 HP), Full Restores, and a few Full Heals is a good idea.

If you want to drastically increase your odds of victory and give yourself a chance to overcome even seemingly impossible odds, buy 10–15 X Defends, X Sp. Defs, X Attacks, and X Sp. Atk, plus 7–10 X Speeds. Snag 5–7 Dire Hits and 2–3 Guard Specs while you're at it. All of these items can be obtained at the Lilycove Department Store — you'll probably want to go back to Lilycove City anyway to speak with the Move Deleter to remove any HM moves you have, since you don't need any and most HM moves aren't worth keeping — Surf, Waterfall, and arguably Fly being the lone exceptions.

Why would you want these items? Well, they can raise your stats temporarily during battle, plus, since they're items, they're used before the opponent can attack. A single X Defend or X Sp. Def will raise your Pokémon's respective defensive stat by 50%. Two of them means it is taking half damage from anything. Even a single use of the X items can turn the tide in battle, but you can pile a whole bunch of X items onto a single Pokémon in battle and then use it to sweep the foe. Dire Hits are also incredibly useful in Gen VI, since they boost your critical hit chance to 50%, or 100% for moves like Slash that have an increased critical hit rate. You don't need to use these items, but if you run into difficulty, they can be a great alternative to training up several more levels or using different Pokémon.

Whenever you're ready, talk to the two Ace Trainers guarding the door in the center of the room. They'll verify you have all of the Hoenn League Badges and will then let you into the depths of the Pokémon League, where you'll have to fight against the four Elite Four members in a row, without a chance to heal at a Pokémon Center between fights (you can still use items outside of battle, though).

Diantha's team is very diverse, meaning it doesn't really have a glaring weakness to just one type. Each Pokémon has its own weaknesses and strengths, and might need to be handled differently.

Champion Battle

Champion Diantha

16320

Hawlucha

Lv. 64

FightFlying

Tyrantrum

Lv. 65

RockDragon

Aurorus

Lv. 65

RockIce

Goodra

Lv. 66

Dragon

Gourgeist

Lv. 65

GhostGrass

Gardevoir

Lv. 68

PsychcFairy

She leads straight off with her Hawlucha L64, who doesn't fool around. X-Scissor and Poison Jab will both do solid Physical damage. It also knows Flying Press, an interesting move that does both Fighting- and Flying-type damage, while also being pretty strong (and Physical-based). And, to round out its moveset, it knows Swords Dance, which will raise its Attack by two stages when used. Very dangerous if you allow it to set up!

Despite being quite fast and having a lot of Attack, Hawlucha is very frail, and doesn't take hits too well (especially Special-based moves). It is weak to Electric-, Psychic-, Ice-, Flying-, and Fairy-type moves, so any strong move of one of those types will likely make quick work of it.

Next up, her Tyrantrum L65 isn't looking to mess around, either. It has very high Attack, and a whole moveset of strong Physical-based moves. Earthquake and Dragon Claw will do solid damage, while Head Smash (Rock-type) is extremely strong but will give it a decent amount of recoil damage (half of the damage it dealt), and Crunch receives a boost from its Strong Jaw ability. Not the fastest thing around, but will undoubtedly try to take out a good chunk of your HP if it hits.

This thing has a lot of Defense, but not nearly as much Special Defense, so definitely hit it with Special-based moves if you can. Fighting-, Ice-, Dragon-, Fairy-, Steel-, and Ground-type moves all happen to be super effective, so are great choices against it.

She also has the other fully-evolved fossil, an Aurorus L65. Aurorus works a little differently, having decently high Special Attack. It has two very strong Special-based moves to complement that, Thunder and Blizzard, though they both have pretty low accuracy, so there's no guarantee they'll hit. However, it can also set up both Light Screen and Reflect, which is mainly what it's out to do. These screens temporarily halve damage done by your Special moves and Physical moves, respectively, so they're obviously no fun.

If you can, knock this thing out immediately to avoid those screens. It is slow and has lower Defense than Special Defense, though very high HP. It is 4x weak to Fighting- and Steel-type moves, so a strong Physical-based move of either type will likely get it out of the way. If you don't have access to those types, it is also weak to Grass-, Ground-, Rock-, and Water-type moves.

Now, her Goodra L66 is pretty interesting to fight. It has a lot of Special Attack, and a variety of formidable Special-based moves: Dragon Pulse, Muddy Water, Fire Blast, and Focus Blast. The latter two moves have pretty unreliable accuracy, but are still very powerful if they hit. Muddy Water doesn't have the best accuracy, either, but Dragon Pulse has 100% accuracy, and is the most solid move it possesses.

Fairy-types are great to use against it, especially since they will be immune to Dragon Pulse, but keep in mind that Goodra has massive Special Defense, while Defense is its lowest stat. Fairy-, Dragon-, and Ice-type moves are all super effective, and if you have any Physical-based moves of any of those types, those are probably the best options to use.

Now for her Gourgeist L65, which honestly doesn't have very impressive attacking power. It does know the powerful moves Phantom Force and Seed Bomb, though, as well as Shadow Sneak, which isn't nearly as strong, but has priority. Its final move is Trick-or-Treat, which makes its opponent a Ghost-type in addition to whatever type(s) it already has. Very interesting, and unless your original typing interferes otherwise, it can make both Phantom Force and Shadow Sneak super effective against you.

This Gourgeist's only impressive stat is its Defense, being quite high, so you will want to try to hit it with something Special-based. It is weak to Fire-, Ice-, Ghost-, Dark-, and Flying-type moves. If you happen to have a Normal/Flying-type bird, it'd likely be extremely useful, being immune to Gourgeist's Ghost-type moves, resisting its Seed Bomb, and (presumably) being able to hit it with a super effective Flying-type move.

Finally, out will come her strongest and most iconic Pokémon, her Gardevoir L68. On the first turn, it will Mega Evolve into Mega Gardevoir, making its already high Special Attack go through the roof. All four of its moves take advantage of this, being solid and powerful Special-based moves: Moonblast, Psychic, Thunderbolt, and Shadow Ball. Any of these moves can hit very hard, so definitely watch out.

Upon Mega Evolving, Gardevoir's Special Defense will also be significantly higher, though its Defense remains pretty poor, so certainly try hitting it with Physical-based moves. Poison-, Ghost-, and Steel-type moves are all it's weak against, so hitting it with a Physical-based move of one of those types will probably do just fine to get it out of the way quickly.

Once you do defeat Diantha, you'll finally enter the Hall of Fame. Congratulations, new Pokémon League Champion!

There will be a celebration held in Lumiose City for you, as well as your friends for helping to defend the Kalos region.

Here, AZ will show up, and out of the blue, ask for a Pokémon battle. Don't panic or anything, his team isn't very difficult at all, especially compared to the Elite Four; if you defeated the Champion, you'll easily win this fight. It doesn't even matter if you win or lose, anyway. He has a Torkoal L60, a Golurk L60, and a Sigilyph L60.

Once the battle's over, AZ will reveal a little bit about himself. Then, watch as something amazing happens to him...

... After the very touching scene, the credits will roll. Your adventure is finally over...

...or is it? Not in the slightest, there's still plenty of stuff to do in the game! I'll certainly be covering some Post-game content very soon, so stay tuned!

So, you've finally made it to the Pokémon League! This challenge will consist of four battles that you'll need to complete (the Elite Four), with the Champion battle at the end. You won't be able to return to a Pokémon Center to heal or buy items between battles (though you can save/use items in your bag to heal), so it's important to make sure you're sufficiently leveled first, and have enough items to heal with.

Before starting, you may want to buy Full Restores, Revives, and Full Heals from the Poké Mart in any Pokémon Center, all extremely useful for the upcoming fights. I would also recommend you stock up on Moomoo Milks, bought from the Hex Maniac in front of the Dendemille Pokémon Center, since they are by far the cheapest healing item that still heals a decent chunk of HP. If you've been picking up and saving Max Revives throughout your journey, those may be extremely useful now as well.

And, of course, you'll want to make sure your Pokémon have high enough levels. The levels of the Pokémon used by the Elite Four range from 63 to 65, while the Champion's highest level is 68. If your Pokémon are level 70 or higher, you should have very little trouble. However, you'll probably be alright even if they're only around level 60-65, with 65-70 being a nice, safe range. If you've had the Exp. Share on for even just a decent portion of your adventure, though, it's likely your Pokémon are already sufficiently leveled.

If you feel you need to train a bit, the wild Pokémon in Victory Road are probably your best bet (this can easily be sped up by having the Exp. Share on while you do so, and equipping your active Pokémon with the Lucky Egg, obtained in Coumarine City). It honestly shouldn't take too long at all to get to high enough levels.

Finally, you may also want to look over your team's movesets and make sure they each have solid moves to use. Many different types are used in the Pokémon League, so you'll want to make sure you can counter all (or at least most) of them.

Once you're ready, charge past the Pokémon Center, up the stairs, and into the breathtaking building to start your challenge.

Enter on either side. There's no turning back now!

In the middle of the room, you'll see Malva, the Elite Four member who uses Fire-types. She will introduce herself and explain a bit about how the Elite Four works. Then, she'll go back into her room, and you'll be free to enter of these four rooms you choose.

Remember, you can take the Elite Four on in any order you want, but you have to defeat them all eventually. I'll be covering them from the southwest room, going clockwise.

The southwest room contains the Dragon-type user Drasna. The northwest room is where Wikstrom, the Steel-type user, is waiting. The northeast room is the place to battle Malva, the Fire-type user. The southeast room is where to find the Water-type user, Siebold.

Drasna's whole Dragon-type team is weak against Ice, so having Ice-type moves on your team should come in very handy. Dragon is also weak to its own type, so it's risky using your own Dragon-type moves, unless they happen to be on a non-Dragon type. Fairy-types are also useful against all except her lead.

Elite Four Battle

Elite Four Drasna

13000

Dragalge

Lv. 63

PoisonDragon

Altaria

Lv. 63

DragonFlying

Druddigon

Lv. 63

Dragon

Noivern

Lv. 65

FlyingDragon

She will first send out her Dragalge L63, which will hit quite hard with its various Special-based moves. Its strongest moves are Dragon Pulse and Sludge Bomb, benefiting from the Same-type attack bonus, and it has Surf and Thunderbolt as well for extra coverage. You'll want to keep in mind that Dragalge has a ton of Special Defense, so hitting it with Physical-based moves tends to be much more effective (though ones that make contact may risk you getting poisoned by Poison Point). Also remember to keep your Fairies away, because of its partial Poison typing. It is weak to Ground-, Psychic-, Ice-, and Dragon-type moves, so all of those would be a much better option. If you picked up the TM for Earthquake, that'd be extremely effective against it, being Super-effective, and Physical, without making direct contact. Psyshock is another very smart option.

Her Altaria L63 won't hit nearly as hard, being more focused on bulk (though on its own, it's no more bulky than Dragalge was). It has Dragon Pulse and Moonblast for damaging moves, as well as Sing and Cotton Guard. Cotton Guard will drastically raise its Defense, while Sing (though fairly inaccurate) can put you to sleep, both being quite annoying. Altaria is 4x weak to Ice-type moves, so those work extremely well against it, but Rock-, Fairy-, and Dragon-type moves will also do nicely.

Drasna's Druddigon L63 has very high Attack, hitting hard with Physical-based moves being its specialty. It has a full moveset of them, too. It is very slow, but half of its moves have decreased priority anyway. Revenge, for example, will likely hit after you due to low priority, which also causes it to do a ton of damage. Its Dragon Tail is decently strong, but it will also force you to switch into the next Pokémon in your party, which can be rather inconvenient. Retaliate is something you really only want to watch out for on the first turn it comes out, as it will do much more damage if used on the turn after her previous Pokémon was knocked out. Chip Away is just an ordinary Normal-type move, but will ignore any changes you make to your Defense or Evasion. Overall, Druddigon is packing some interesting and powerful moves that need to be watched out for. If you can, try to hit it immediately with something strong and super effective (Ice-, Dragon-, or Fairy-type). Fairy-types are most useful against it, since they are immune to its Dragon Tail, and resist Revenge.

Lastly, her Noivern L65 is also 4x weak to Ice, and it has pretty low defenses. However, it's very fast and has considerably high Special Attack. Air Slash, Dragon Pulse, and Flamethrower all take advantage of this (Flamethrower is especially dangerous if you're trying to fight it with an Ice-type), and its final move, Super Fang, will knock out half of your current HP no matter what (unless you're using a Ghost-type, which is immune), which is also quite menacing.

Once she's defeated, move on over to the next battle!

Wikstrom is a user of Steel-types, so as expected, Fire- and Ground-type moves are your best friends during this fight. However, there isn't one type that will be super effective against everything, so a little diversity may be necessary. Also keep in mind, while Fighting-types may seem like a good idea, only one of his Pokémon is actually weak to it.

Elite Four Battle

Elite Four Wikstrom

13000

Klefki

Lv. 63

SteelFairy

Scizor

Lv. 63

BugSteel

Probopass

Lv. 63

RockSteel

Aegislash

Lv. 65

SteelGhost

He will lead with his Klefki L63, who doesn't have fantastic stats or anything, but it can still be quite bothersome. Its move Torment will prevent you from using the same move twice in a row, and it can set up Spikes which will slightly hurt anything you send in later on. To make matters worse, it has the Prankster ability, meaning these non-damaging moves will take priority over most moves and likely go first. It also has Dazzling Gleam and Flash Cannon to do some damage with. It is only weak to Fire and Ground, so those types of moves are the way to go here.

His Scizor L63 is 4x weak to Fire-type moves, and has pretty high Defense, so Special-based Fire-type moves (such as Flamethrower) are best to use against it. It also has a ton of Attack, and can hit very hard with any of its Physical-based moves: Bullet Punch, X-Scissor, Iron Head, and Night Slash. It isn't fast, but keep in mind Bullet Punch has priority, so will probably go first. On top of that, it has Technician, which means Bullet Punch is quite a bit stronger than it'd normally be. This means it's probably a bad idea to use anything that's weak to Steel-type moves.

The Probopass L63 has a whole ton of both Defense and Special Defense, which may make it tedious to take down. Its Steel typing means you can't even whittle down its HP with Toxic. It is 4x weak to Fighting- and Ground-type moves, so those are likely your best bet, but it's also weak to Water. It is very slow, and doesn't have the best Special Attack in the world, but is packing the damaging Special-based moves Earth Power, Power Gem, Discharge, and Flash Cannon. It also happens to have Sturdy, so even if you do have the potential to knock it out in one hit, it will still survive. Just hit it as hard as you can, preferably with a Fighting- or Ground-type move, and you should be able to take it down eventually.

Last but certainly not least is his Aegislash L65. This is a very interesting Pokémon due to its ability, which changes its forme depending on what kind of move it is about to use in that turn. It will come out in its Shield Forme, which means its Defense and Special Defense will be extremely high, but its Attack and Special Attack will be extremely low. However, right before it uses a damaging move, it will transform into its Blade Forme, which gives it extremely high Attack and Special Attack, but extremely low Defense and Special Defense. This can make it troublesome to take out, especially with its King's Shield move, which has priority and changes it immediately back to its Shield Forme before it is attacked again. Additionally, King's Shield also protects it from being attacked in that turn, and if you try to hit it with something that makes contact, your Attack will fall 2 stages. Its other moves are Sacred Sword, Shadow Claw, and Iron Head, all Physical-based and very powerful in its Blade Forme. It is weak to Ground-, Ghost-, Dark-, and Fire-type moves, so those are recommended, especially if you can manage to hit it in its Blade Forme (this is difficult since it's so slow anyway).

Once he is out of the way, proceed to your next battle!

All of Malva's Pokémon are Fire-type, and they're also all weak to Water- and Rock-type moves, with all but one bring weak to Ground. Might sound relatively easy at first, but don't underestimate her too much!

Elite Four Battle

Elite Four Malva

13000

Pyroar

Lv. 63

FireNormal

Torkoal

Lv. 63

Fire

Chandelure

Lv. 63

GhostFire

Talonflame

Lv. 65

FireFlying

She will use her Pyroar L63 first, which has decent Speed and Special Attack. Something worth noting is that it has Rivalry, meaning it will do more damage against you if you use a Pokémon of the same gender (in this case, female), but less damage against you if you use something of the opposite gender (male). If possible, a male might be a good choice, or at the very least genderless, since that will take neutral damage. This Pyroar has the damaging moves Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, and Wild Charge, as well as the move Noble Roar, which will lower your Attack and Special Attack by one stage. It has low defenses, though, and is weak to a fair amount of common things (Fighting-, Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type moves), making it not that hard to take out anyway.

Malva's Torkoal L63 is dreadfully slow, and doesn't have very high offensive stats, but is extremely Defensive. It is weak to Ground-, Rock-, and Water-type moves, so any Special-based moves of those types should be very effective against it. It can damage you with Earthquake, Stone Edge, or Flame Wheel if given the opportunity, and also likes to set up with Curse (which raises its Attack and Defense, while slowing it down even more) so try to get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

Her Chandelure L63 is possibly her strongest member, having massive Special Attack and pretty decent other stats, too. It is weak to a lot of things: Water-, Ghost-, Ground-, Rock-, and Dark-type moves, so any of those (either Physical or Special) should do well. It has both Flamethrower and Shadow Ball to attack with, as well as Confuse Ray which is more annoying than anything, and Confide, which will lowers your Special Attack by one stage. Remember that it has the ability Flame Body, meaning if you attack it with a move that makes contact, you may risk getting burned, which not only whittles down your HP each turn, but also cuts your Attack stat until you heal the burn. This can definitely be an inconvenience.

Her Talonflame L65, though it is the star of her team, does not have the best defenses, and not much attacking power, either. However, it has excellent Speed, and the very powerful Physical-based moves Brave Bird and Flare Blitz, though these both also make it take substantial recoil damage. It also has Quick Attack, which has the potential to quickly finish you off if you're low on health, and Flail, which does more damage when it's low on health. It's 4x weak to Rock, so any decent Rock-type move will likely knock it out. Water- and Electric-type moves are also quite good against it. Keep in mind, like Malva's Chandelure, this Talonflame also has Flame Body, meaning hitting it with a move that makes contact may result in you getting burned, which cuts your Attack stat until the burn is healed.

After you defeat Malva, move onto your next fight!

Seibold's Water-type team all share a weakness to Electric-type moves, and most of his team is weak to Grass-type moves as well. Other than that, his team doesn't have much consistency in their weaknesses or strengths.

Elite Four Battle

Elite Four Siebold

13000

Clawitzer

Lv. 63

Water

Starmie

Lv. 63

WaterPsychc

Gyarados

Lv. 63

WaterFlying

Barbaracle

Lv. 65

RockWater

His lead, a Clawitzer L63, is a pure Water-type, so it's weak to both Grass- and Electric-type attacks (and it has about equal Defense and Special Defense, neither being too impressive, by the way). This thing can hit extremely hard due to its ability Mega Launcher, which boosts the power of pulse and aura moves. And, just as you'd expect, its moveset is full of those. Water Pulse, Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Aura Sphere all receive a boost from this ability, in addition to its Special Attack being very high, so definitely watch out for those. Outspeeding this thing shouldn't be much of a problem, though. A Fairy-type might be useful, since it would be immune to Dragon Pulse, and (unless it has a secondary typing that messes with this) resist its other moves, except for Water Pulse.

The Starmie L63 also has respectable Special Attack, but very high Speed as well. Its defenses aren't the best though, and it has a lot of weaknesses. Take your pick: Electric-, Grass-, Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves are all super effective. It has three strong Special-based moves: Surf, Psychic, and Dazzling Gleam. Additionally, it can set up Light Screen, which will temporarily halve the damage of your Special-based moves. Definitely an inconvenience if this thing manages to use it.

Seibold's Gyarados L63 is 4x weak to Electric-type moves, so those are obviously your best bet, but Rock-type moves hurt as well. It has lower Defense than Special Defense, but watch out if using Physical-based moves, since its ability Intimidate will lower your Attack in the turn Gyarados comes out. It has very high Attack, and possesses some very strong Physical-based moves of its own: Waterfall, Ice Fang, and Earthquake. It can also set up with Dragon Dance, which raises its Attack and Speed by one stage and can get incredibly dangerous. If you have any strong Electric-type moves, I'd highly recommend using them.

The frightening star of the show, his Barbaracle L65, is a force to be reckoned with, indeed. It is 4x weak to Grass-type moves, so again, that's what I'd recommend using (keep in mind its Special Defense is significantly lower than its Defense). Fighting-, Electric-, and Ground-type moves all hit super effective as well. It is pretty slow, but if it manages to hit you, it will likely be very powerful; especially due to its ability, Tough Claws, which boosts the power of contact moves. Most of its moves happen to make contact (Cross Chop, Razor Shell, and X-Scissor) while one of its moves does not (Stone Edge), but every move is strong either way.

Once Siebold is down, continue to your next challenge!

After every member of the Elite Four is taken down, it's time for the final battle in the Pokémon League: the Champion. Heal up your team if needed, and enter through the large doors in the center whenever you're ready.

If you've participated in your local Pokémon League and have set up a Trainer Club account that's linked to your Pokémon Global Link account, you'll be able to visit the Promotions page on the Global Link in order to receive a special Dragonite for your participation in the Nimbasa Gym Season of the Pokémon League!

What is a Pokémon League, you ask? It's not quite the place where you fight the Elite Four like it is in the video games, no, it's actually a real-life "club" where Pokémon fans gather and play Pokémon with each other! It's for both the Trading Card Game and the Video Games, and is a great experience for any Pokémon fan. If you want to learn more about it, check out the official page explaining Pokémon Leagues, and also use the Event Locator to find any leagues in your area! There are thousands of local Pokémon Leagues set up all over the world!

This Dragonite comes at level 55 and has the moves Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Wing Attack, and ExtremeSpeed, as well as the Hidden Ability Multiscale, which reduces the damage it takes from attacks so long as its HP is full, ensuring it will have some extra endurance against the first hit it receives in battle.

If you've participated in your local Pokémon League and have set up a Trainer Club account that's linked to your Pokémon Global Link account, you'll be able to visit the Promotions page on the Global Link in order to receive a special Tyranitar for your participation in the Castelia Gym Season of the Pokémon League!

What is a Pokémon League, you ask? It's not quite the place where you fight the Elite Four like it is in the video games, no, it's actually a real-life "club" where Pokémon fans gather and play Pokémon with each other! It's for both the Trading Card Game and the Video Games, and is a great experience for any Pokémon fan. If you want to learn more about it, check out the official page explaining Pokémon Leagues, and also use the Event Locator to find any leagues in your area! There are thousands of local Pokémon Leagues set up all over the world!

What is a Pokémon League, you ask? It's not quite the place where you fight the Elite Four like it is in the video games, no, it's actually a real-life "club" where Pokémon fans gather and play Pokémon with each other! It's for both the Trading Card Game and the Video Games, and is a great experience for any Pokémon fan. If you want to learn more about it, check out the official page explaining Pokémon Leagues, and also use the Event Locator to find any leagues in your area! There are thousands of local Pokémon Leagues set up all over the world!

By participating in the Castelia Gym Season of the Pokémon League and having the two aforementioned accounts, you'll be rewarded with a level 55 Tyranitar on the Pokémon Global Link when the Castelia Gym Season ends, which has the moves Payback, Crunch, Earthquake, and Seismic Toss, as well as the Hidden Ability Unnerve, which prevents the opponent's Pokémon from using held berries in battle. It is worth pointing out that Seismic Toss has not been available on Tyranitar since the Move Tutors from Generation III, so it is a rather rare move for Tyranitar (although, given its monstrous Attack stat, it is generally unnecessary).

The Nimbasa Gym Season of the Pokémon League follows that, and once that wraps up, participating players will be given a level 55 Dragonite on the Pokémon Global Link, which knows Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Wing Attack, and the zippy ExtremeSpeed. It also has the Hidden Ability Multiscale, which reduces the damage it receives from an attack when it is hit while its HP is full, and can be a very useful ability to have for a Dragonite.

The Meloetta distribution at GameStop stores in the US has started today! You'll have from now until March 24th to pick up your Meloetta on your copy of Pokémon Black, White, Black 2, or White 2! Additionally, the distribution has also started today in Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand, while Canada and France's begins on March 9th and then the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany will start their distributions on March 22nd.

For more information on the Meloetta distribution, check out the previous update, which covers it in more detail.

If you are a member of a Pokémon League, you can get your Garchomp by going to the Promotions tab of the Pokémon Global Link website after signing in and you will then be able to receive the Garchomp if you are eligible. This is a reward for participation in the Pokémon League and is not available for people who did not attend the Pokémon League, so if you don't see it under your Promotions tab, it is because you have not attended one of these fun leagues.

What is a Pokémon League, you ask? It's not quite the place where you fight the Elite Four like it is in the video games, no, it's actually a real-life "club" where Pokémon fans gather and play Pokémon with each other! It's for both the Trading Card Game and the Video Games, and is a great experience for any Pokémon fan. If you want to learn more about it, check out the official page explaining Pokémon Leagues, and also use the Event Locator to find any leagues in your area! There are thousands of local Pokémon Leagues set up all over the world!

In other news, Curse has extended its author rewards program so modders and addon developers for any of Curse's supported games are now eligible to earn points that can be used to buy Amazon gift cards or even redeemed for cold hard cash in the CurseForge store. Once an addon or mod has been downloaded 1,000 times, the author will receive a complimentary Curse Premium subscription and will also be eligible to begin earning points for their downloads that can be redeemed for the previously mentioned goodies. Over $1,000,000 worth of rewards have been given to the authors already! Interested? Check out the update on Curse.com for even more details!